For the employees of TC Televisión, there is a “before” and an “after” on January 9, 2024, which was the starting point for Ecuador’s war on gangs: in the middle of the live broadcast of the afternoon’s in-depth news program, the channel was stormed by a dozen armed men who took several of the employees as a hostage.
The attack lasted for over an hour and a half, before the police were able to free the hostages and arrest 13 people.
– It was an event that rewrote the history of our country and of this city, says “José”, one of the managers on the channel.
Still deeply scarred by the attack
When TV4 Nyheterna visits TC Televisión, the same afternoon program that was stormed is running. It looks like any news studio: the shirts are starched, the camera is rolling, the lights are on and the TV makeup is shining – but “José”, he trembles.
He says that he is still deeply affected by the attack and that he therefore does not dare to use his real name, for fear of revenge attacks from the gangs.
– It was an extremely emotional day, filled with terror, he says.
Was doing his second day at work when the attack happened
On January 9, 24-year-old Odalis García made his second day at work. During the autumn, she had done an internship at the channel, and because the managers liked what they saw, the internship turned into a temporary position.
In the corridor outside the newsroom where she sits at her computer, surrounded by colleagues, the wall is full of bullet holes from the exchange of gunfire between police and hostage takers.
On two occasions, Odalis García was sure she was going to die. Despite that and despite the violence she was subjected to, she gives a completely different picture of the incident – than the one offered by her colleagues. For her, the attack is just another expression of how bad the situation is in Ecuador. A country where poverty and violence in some urban areas have gone so far that crime is sometimes considered the only option.
– Imagine, these guys have probably been offered a certain amount of money, money they don’t have. What can they do? They accept.
“Already deeply forgiven them”
Still no one knows the real reason for the attack. A prosecutor who investigated the incident has been murdered and the 13 who were arrested are accused of terrorism. Odalis García, says they were probably just pawns in a much bigger game.
– They are as old as me, the guys you call terrorists. I call them children who try to be terrorists, says Odalis García.
– And I have already deeply forgiven them. I hold no grudge against any of them. They must have had their reasons, I see. But I know my colleagues think differently.